When a movie isn't just a movie

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People stop while hiking up a trail after the dedication ceremony for the Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park south of Yarnell, Nov. 29, 2016. The park honors the 19 firefighters who were killed fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire on June 30, 2013. Plaques, such as this one for Eric Shane Marsh, mark the trail all the way to the memorial. Tom Tingle/The Republic

The dedication ceremony concludes for the Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park south of Yarnell on Nov. 29, 2016. The park honors the 19 firefighters who were killed fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire on June 30, 2013. Tom Tingle/The Republic

A missing man formation flies over during the dedication ceremony for the Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park south of Yarnell on Nov. 29, 2016. The park honors the 19 firefighters who were killed fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire on June 30, 2013. Tom Tingle/The Republic

Gov. Doug Ducey helps unveil a plaque during the dedication ceremony for the Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park south of Yarnell on Nov. 29, 2016. The park honors the 19 firefighters who were killed fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire on June 30, 2013. Tom Tingle/The Republic

Amanda Marsh, the widow of Eric Shane Marsh, listens during the dedication ceremony for the Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park south of Yarnell on Nov. 29, 2016. The park honors the 19 firefighters who were killed fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire on June 30, 2013. Tom Tingle/The Republic

Gov. Doug Ducey speaks at the dedication ceremony for the Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park south of Yarnell on Nov. 29, 2016. The park honors the 19 firefighters who were killed fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire on June 30, 2013. Tom Tingle/The Republic

The crowd listens as Gov. Doug Ducey speaks at the dedication ceremony for the Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park south of Yarnell on Nov. 29, 2016. The park honors the 19 firefighters who were killed fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire on June 30, 2013. Tom Tingle/The Republic

Gov. Doug Ducey speaks at the dedication ceremony for the Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial State Park south of Yarnell, on Nov. 29, 2016. The park honors the 19 firefighters who were killed fighting the Yarnell Hill Fire on June 30, 2013. Tom Tingle/The Republic

The cast of the movie about the hotshots includes Josh Brolin, Miles Teller and Jeff Bridges among others. They’re very fine actors. The movie is said to be released in October.

It’s difficult to contemplate such a thing.

If you were here when those great young guys from Prescott were lost it is impossible to look at a movie about them as a movie.

And now, to say something about the trailer like, “It looks good” or “It looks entertaining” or “It looks authentic” or … anything … seems only to diminish the risk and the sacrifice and the sorrow of the event, which in the minds and hearts of so many who were here during those awful days is still fresh.

Would you call the movie 'good?'

We dramatize our history in America.

We always have.

It used to take us a little longer to do so. We allowed time to pass, emotions to diminish, events to be sorted out.

But with the technology available today and the impatience of the culture we now recreate tragedy in an instant. Or so it seems.

Books are published in a flash. Documentaries are produced. Films are made.

Most of them aren’t very good.

Then again, even if the acting in the hotshot movie is authentic and humane; even if the cinematography is big and breathtaking; even if the screenplay is first-rate, and the directing is solid. and the sound and the editing are all done at the highest levels, I can’t imagine myself ever saying that a movie about these amazing young men, who were lost to us in a flash, is … good.